LIFE IN A COMMUNITY OF OWNERS IN SPAIN

From sending over a bowl of homemade soup when someone’s feeling poorly to giving sound advice on local schools, doctors, and businesses around your area, a good neighbour knows how to make those around them feel welcome from the start.

So what type of neighbour are you?

The thoughtful giver

Characteristics: Your cupboards are always packed with goodies to take along with you and you keep a stock of greetings cards for every occasion – just in case. Children and pets make you smile.

Thoughtful givers are doers to say the least, and lending a hand comes naturally. If a neighbour is ill, this kind of person may volunteer to do anything from mowing the lawn to cooking a meal. He or she remembers special occasions and won’t hesitate to send a card. When someone nearby has plans to go out of town, one can count on the thoughtful giver to pick up the post, water the plants, or run a small errand while that person is away.

The well informed neighbour

Characteristics: You know the best doctors, swimming pool specialists, and mechanics around. You’re part of the community watch programme and take part in all community matters. You know if your neighbour’s ill or is away for holidays.

If there’s anything to know within the community, the informed neighbour will. A great resource for outsourcing outside help, getting great recommendations for local restaurants and more. Knowledge is this person’s greatest contribution. They will also keep an eye on your property when you travel, keep you informed in a positive manner about other neighbours and might even suggest a neighbours get together three or four times a year.

The entertainer

Characteristics: A lover of cooking and entertaining shows. Their dining room/patio is always buffet-ready.

Like the kitchen is said to be the heart of the home, the entertainer’s hospitality thrives best on good food and drink. Though not necessarily the host of every party, this person loves to chat over a good meal, exchange recipes and get to know those nearby through food-related functions. The entertainer is always ready to share a meal if a neighbour pops up out of the blue.

The Newcomer

What if you’ve just moved into the community? Try throwing a welcome gathering or perhaps inviting next door over for dinner. If you’re short on time or find a full dinner to be a bit much, have them over for just a cup of tea. And if you’re not quite ready to have company over, even the smallest steps can make a big impact on your future there- just smiling, waving, and simply asking how they are can really go a long way.

Noisy Neighbours and How to deal with them

Whether the problem be loud music, constant building works or a barking dog—the key to dealing with noisy neighbours is ‘politely’ if you want to stay on good terms with them.

In many cases, your neighbours may not even be aware that they are disturbing you. And on special occasions, like New Year’s Eve, a little extra noise is to be expected of course!

In order to avoid everyday disturbances without damaging your relationship, it’s essential to lay the initial groundwork, by establishing a relationship as early as possible.

Sometimes there is an attitude of ‘each man in his castle’, that we live alone and therefore do not have to consider the needs of others. But this is clearly not the case when you live in a community - so it is important to get along with those who live in close proximity to you. Some ways to do this include:

• Always be friendly and introduce yourself
• Invite neighbours to gatherings and events
• Don’t complain, but rather bring concerns to their attention and suggest solutions
• Exude model behaviour

And overall, abide by the Golden Rule: treat others as you would want to be treated. Take a moment to evaluate your own habits, too. Could you possibly be a bothering people with your noise?

If all this fails to deal with the problem, then it is time to contact your administrator and get them to take the necessary steps in finding a solution.

Nowadays almost everyone turns to the internet as their primary source of information be it to find a restaurant telephone number or to check out the daily newspapers.

 With this in mind, most successful communities of owners are also taking advantage of this method of communication, as a way to conveniently share information with all homeowners. Very few people nowadays lack access to the internet in some form or another.

When done properly, a community website that can be accessed 24 hours a day and 7 days a week can provide many benefits to your community and in most instances website maintenance is hassle-free. But, just what type of information should your community website contain?

Below is list of 14 key items which should be included on your existing website or should be taken into account when developing a new one.

• A welcome page for new homeowners – this is of the upmost importance as it makes newcomers feel welcome and also lets them know the ropes as many will not be familiar with community living
• Community news- this needs to be kept up to date and can include anything from scheduled pool closures to changes in local bus timetables
• Community Rules and Regulations – if they are on the website noone has any excuse to say that they didn’t know!
• Governing documents
• Architectural forms – for obtaining permissions etc
• Facilities information including pool hours, where to pick up keys, etc.
• Rubbish bin emptying  schedules
• Calendar of events- a great way to advertise general meetings and social events
• Committee member information- so that everyone can contact the right person should they need to.
• General meeting minutes
• FAQs
• General information i.e. emergency phone numbers
• Updates on recent repairs/renewals or those to be carried out in the near future
• A blog where members can post any comments which are relevant to all homeowners

Community websites can be a great way to share important, timely information as well as a great way to create and maintain a sense of community among homeowners.

If you live in a community that isn’t taking advantage of this great communication tool, then speak to your administrator as they may be able to help you. In Resortalia we are currently managing several web pages of Communities and we can assure you that it´s worth the effort! We would be happy to discuss the benefits of a community web site with you personally. You can contact us by following the link shown to the right of this blog. 

Maintaining the Community to a high standard isn’t an easy job and requires all owners to follow some basic ground rules at least.

Painting exteriors in different shades of colour,  late night parties, using the pool outside of hours….. Somewhere in Spain a Community Administrator  is attempting to solve one of these, or similar rule violations.

They’ll be communicating with owners and holding meetings, trying to resolve these issues which can be a headache for those trying to enjoy community living.

A community’s governing documents will establish the aesthetics like architecture, landscaping, painting, and visual standards, and the general living environment – things like noise nuisance protections, smoking restrictions, and quiet enjoyment. All owners agree to follow these governing documents when they join the Community and the President with the help of the Administrator is responsible for ensuring that they do.

However, despite a community’s best efforts, violations will undoubtedly occur from time to time.

So, what are the steps that should be taken when homeowners do violate their community’s rules?

Below are 4 steps of enforcement, but since rules vary from one community to another, you should check with your own committee or administrator for specific advice.

Step 1.Customer service. Not every owner has memorised the community rule book, so they may not know that they’re in violation. That being said, consider human nature and how individuals react to discipline. Are you more or less likely to comply with a rule if your first notice of a violation is rude, aggressive, and threatening? Remember: we are attempting to control an aspect of someone’s home and life – which is a very personal aspect. For proper enforcement, start from the position of politeness and notification. Start with a  friendly notice.

Step 2. Processing and documentation. Despite the friendly warning, the problem is still occurring? Then  it’s time to step up the enforcement process - first a warning, secondly a written  notice – hopefully it won’t come to a final notice??  Proper records need to be kept of all actions in any case – those records will be important later on, especially if the problem persists.

Step 3.Talk it over. If it reaches this far, the  opportunity should be given for a fair hearing and resolution of any violation. At the meeting, the homeowner’s viewpoint should be respected and listened to – there are always two sides to a story after all! A compromise may be able to be reached to  create an easier resolution of the problem and prevent further escalation. But the needs of the rest of the owners should not be ignored though. While the owner attending the hearing may have good reason for paving over their front garden with concrete, consider how that would impact the lives and home values of the other homes in the community?

Step 4 If all else fails…. Notices, hearings, fines, compromises, and long stares around  the pool just aren’t getting the violation resolved?  Then unfortunately, it may be time to consider legal action.

If you are experiencing problems in your community then speak to your administrator. They may be able to help you get it resolved quickly and without any upset.

What happens if someone doesn’t pay their community fees?

In different communities, the fees are payable at different intervals – they can be due monthly, quarterly or even annually in some cases- all depending on what is contained in the individual community rules.

Most people pay regularly by direct debit which is often the easiest method as once the direct debit mandate is in place, the administrators can collect the amounts due without any unnecessary delay and with minimal bother to the home owner.

Often there are surcharges and interest payable if payments are made late, again depending on the individual community’s rules and regulations. Having a direct debit set up also avoids this problem.

But what happens when the payments still aren’t made after the due date? What effect will this have on the Community as a whole?

In order for the Community to operate efficiently and smoothly, all income needs to be collected during the financial year as often communities are operating to very tight budgets in order to keep costs down for the individual owners.

If you should find yourself in temporary financial difficulty you should make sure that you communicate this to the administrator as soon as possible. Do not just ignore the problem hoping that it will go away as it will only get worse – the community fees will continue to accrue along with any interest and surcharges which may be applicable. The administrator’s collection department will be able to advise you on the best course of action. It is essential that you also advise them of any change in personal details so that the communication channels between you do not break down.

We as administrators have very strict collection policies as we have seen first-hand the detrimental effect that non-payment of community fees over a long period of time by a significant number of individuals can cause. It doesn’t only result in a lack of funding to keep the community properly maintained, it can cause ill-feeling between the fellow owners – after all, if they are paying their fees so that they can enjoy the amenities then why should others be allowed to enjoy them if they fail to pay?

Many communities try to avoid this problem by creating ways in which the annual use of the amenities can be monitored and only allowing those people up to date with their payments access to these. This is relatively easy to maintain with access to things such as swimming pools and gymnasiums, where entrance is controlled, but more difficult in terms of things like gardens etc. Obviously your administrator will know what the Community’s statutes allow to be restricted in this way for non-payers.

Controlling the collection of monies and bad debts is a key area and one which your administrator should give priority to.

If the non-payment is of a more permanent nature and amounts are still outstanding by the time the AGM is held, those owners with debts will not be able to vote at the meeting. The treatment of these amounts will be discussed at the meeting and whether legal action is to be taken for their recovery or not is also approved.

We will talk in more detail another time about the legal recovery of debts process and what it entails.